Medical evacuation from Island Princess

[grandmaa]

We had an emergency medical evacuation off of the Island Princess this evening. We had to make a stop outside Hualteco where a medical ship came alongside and took off the passenger. The ill person was going to be flown by plane to Houston,Texas. We are underway again on our way to San Juan del Sur. Seas are a bit lumpy and bumpy!

[Pam in CA]

We had an emergency medical evacuation off of the Island Princess this evening. We had to make a stop outside Hualteco where a medical ship came alongside and took off the passenger. The ill person was going to be flown by plane to Houston,Texas. We are underway again on our way to San Juan del Sur. Seas are a bit lumpy and bumpy!

So sorry to hear this. Thank goodness the ship was within range of a medevac.

[KirkNC]

Hope they recover soon.

[Debe7ing]

Prayers to those affected by this medical emergency....we have been on a cruise where a pax had to be offloaded during one of the "locks" segments during a Panama Canal cruise; one with a Coast Guard helicopter airlift from the deck (everyone stood on the back end of the ship and took 1,000 pictures of the helicopter coming around, downlining their personnel, basketing the patient and uplining the rescue folks) as well as time the chopper spent hovering besides the ship as they preped and loaded the pax); one that has actually picked up refugees at float at sea 3 days, out of food and water (all Caribbean cruises)....and unfortunately for them, our next port was Mexico (where my maritime law they must be off loaded). Heck, even had our car washed out to sea by Hurricane Ike as we were sailing from Galveston, with the two day delay back to a US port, and finally into N.O. which (In our opinon) has SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS about all the help TX gave them when Katrina hit a few years earlier because they gouged us $$$ every chance they got from the bus transport to the airport to the "walk up" flying rates to try to get back home). Have also witnessed a total lunar eclipise at sea one evening....how fun!

 

All this and STILL advid cruisers!!!! ;) Guess if you cruise enough, you get to add lots of "war stories" to your chest of memories.

[Keith1010]

Sorry to hear about the medical emergency. We hope that the person gets well soon.

 

Keith

[sunsetbeachgal]

hope the person is OK and hope they had travel insurance...this is why we "don't leave home without it!"

[Tickled2Trvl]

We had an emergency medical evacuation off of the Island Princess this evening. We had to make a stop outside Hualteco where a medical ship came alongside and took off the passenger. The ill person was going to be flown by plane to Houston,Texas. We are underway again on our way to San Juan del Sur. Seas are a bit lumpy and bumpy!

 

Anita,

I am sorry for this passenger and hope all will be well.

How is your cruise going? I know you had a very active Roll Call, I hope you both are having a great time. Do you always go where the seas are lumpy and bumpy? i.e. Santa Barbara? :)

[Boomer 123]

Seas are a bit lumpy and bumpy!

 

Wow. You consider this trip "lumpy and bumpy"??? :confused: I can't imagine any cruise being any smoother. There's barely a ripple in the water and no breeze at all. :p

[Coral]

Sadly, these happen on many cruises. I don't consider it noteworthy except for maybe as part of a review or live from. Maybe I have just witnessed far too many...

[lovevacadays]

I hope the passenger that was air lifted will be ok. I would imagine the seas are a bit rough for you. The Pacific Ocean is churning!

[grandmaa]

Wow. You consider this trip "lumpy and bumpy"??? :confused: I can't imagine any cruise being any smoother. There's barely a ripple in the water and no breeze at all. :p

 

Boomer

Seas have calmed but for a period of time they were truly lumpy and bumpy..we are fortunate we are not prone to seasickness but some are and they where not comfortable.

 

Tickled2trvl..

Hi

Yes I remember Santa Barbara..that was after that storm that we had bumpy seas. Yes active CC group..had a poker bar crawl. Cabin crawl, and slot pull is on the agenda. Had a great M&G with lots of cruise staff present..

Regards

Anita

[sjmbruce]

i know in most cases it would be hard to know, but does anyone know reasons why people have to be evacuated? this is my first cruise and i'm just getting paranoid!

[Pam in CA]

i know in most cases it would be hard to know, but does anyone know reasons why people have to be evacuated? this is my first cruise and i'm just getting paranoid!

It's pretty much always a medical issue if someone needs to be evacuated. There are three types: one is the ship going to the nearest port which is the most common; the second is via a pilot boat or another boat; the third is via helicopter. The last two are pretty unusual.

 

There is a very wide range of potential medical issues. The Medical Center can handle many types, from setting bones and giving blood, to dispensing medications. They cannot do operations. Princess ships sailing in the Caribbean, CA and Mexico consult with the Texas Medical Center in Houston if there is a need.

 

Usually, a medical issue isn't urgent or life-threatening. If a passenger needs to be evacuated from the ship in port, it's usually done either before general disembarkation (if it's urgent) or after most passengers have left the ship.

 

No one expects to get sick or have an accident on a cruise which is why insurance is so important.

[Putterdude]

We did witness a Coast Guard helicopter medical evacuation off the Coral a few years ago. At the time we were about 35 miles off San Francisco. Without going into great detail, I must say I was extremely impressed with the professionalism of the ship's crew prepping the ship for the evacuation and of the Coat Guard's pilots and EMTs.

[san diego sue]

To Grandmaa,

Hope you are having fun. Wish we could get our vacation times in sinc

and cruise together.

Regards,

Gloria:D

[DrivesLikeMario]

A few days ago, the seas were really rough all along the West Coast of the US down to southern Mexico. It was on the news, so unless it was an unusually slow news day, it was noteworthy. My first thought was, "I betcha people on cruise ships are getting knocked around!". At least it's probably over for the OP now. ;)

[Pam in CA]

A few days ago, the seas were really rough all along the West Coast of the US down to southern Mexico. It was on the news, so unless it was an unusually slow news day, it was noteworthy. My first thought was, "I betcha people on cruise ships are getting knocked around!" At least it's probably over for the OP now. ;)

You're right. The surfers are in 7th heaven. Passed a truck carrying wetsuits yesterday heading into Laguna.

[PunkiC]

We had a helicopter evacuation from the Caribbean last spring. During the procedure they had a mandatory evacuation of the top few decks. We had an Aloha mid-ship cabin and were forced to leave it. We watched from the windows in the International Cafe.

[Treven]

last June at the end of my Alaska cruise, an elderly gent had a heart attack the evening after leaving Victoria. The next morning we detoured into Coos Bay OR & we were met by a Coast Guard cutter out in the bay which took on the guy and most likely his wife, then the ship continued on to SFO.

[Cruisin Kay D]

My mother had to be taken off a Princess ship in January of 2000 in middle of Panama Canal Gatun Locks and flown back to Ft. Lauderdale. Dad went with her but we stayed on ship to finish the cruise, per my dad's orders. Our son flew to Ft. L to meet mom & dad. Mom had confusion, weakness, passed out, and blood issues (low hemoglobin + hematocrit) -- the ship's doctor feared internal bleeding -- another passenger on that same cruise had a heart attack & was also flown back to Ft. L. My parents had travel insurance.

 

We were quite concerned about mom, and back then the ship did not have a way for us to keep up on mom's condition. However the ship's doctor used his computer to communicate with the Ft. L hospital and kept us somewhat informed. The same day she was taken from the ship, Princess made us pack up all of my parents' belongings that same day and remove everything from their cabin!! (and then gave the cabin to someone else!) But Princess didn't give my parents a refund on the booking for days they weren't on the ship!!

[vickie_bernie]

we have had a few of these evacuations too.

 

I hope all is okay with the person evacuated. Texas would sure be a long flight considering how far south Huatulco is. We have visited this beautiful part of Mexcio numerous times on land vacations but the larger hospital is quite a distance away in Oxaca although the smaller hospital in La Cruicicita can handle basic emergencies/surgeries.